Thursday's Links to Writing & Marketing Blog Posts

THE SIX GREAT EPIPHANIES OF SUCCESSFUL AUTHORS

By: Larry Brooks, @storyfix

I love this word: Epiphany.

It comes from the Greek word epiphneia, which means apparition, in reference to the manifestation of a supernatural or divine reality.

The more contemporary definition, one of four contexts, is:

A sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience.

In other words, an Epiphany is something that was right in front of us all along.

So it is when it comes to writing our stories.

It represents an opportunity, born of a recognition of the truth.

A truth that may have been holding you back because you weren’t fully acknowledging it, a truth that may propel you further and faster once you do.

When it comes to writing effective fiction, there are a handful of Epiphanies that await. And while the A-list authors you worship may or may not ascribe their success to them, or describe them in this way (as shown below) if they do, they nonetheless practice the craft of writing in context to them.

Every time, in one form or another.

So what do they know that we don’t?

While that’s perhaps a grievously black-and-white way to phrase the question, we can boil it down to a few key awarenesses, skills and belief systems – truths – that elevate stories to a consistent level of effectiveness.

But take caution, because these truths are subtle.

So subtle you might easily dismiss them, or naively believe you already align with them. If you’d prefer to wait a decade to crawl out from beneath a truckload of rejection slips to see the truth and value they represent, that’s an available option.

Or, you can inject them — force-feed them if you have to — into your conscious recognition of what creates successful fiction right now… in a world in which 990 of every 1000 stories written are not yet at that level.

That statistic in itself can and should ignite an Epiphany or two, or five… or at least clear the way for these truths to become one for you.

Here’s what successful authors understand at the very core of their writing souls:

1. They see craft, or the absence of it, in everything they read.

. . .

Read the full article HERE!

~*~

If you missed my writing & marketing tweets and retweets yesterday, here they are again:

1. The Six Great Epiphanies of Successful Authors http://ow.ly/B1VRt  @storyfix
2. Fiction University: Stop That Fighting! Conflicts Aren’t all About the Punches http://ow.ly/B1Y71
3. The Secret To a Successful Concept - Storyfix.com http://ow.ly/B1XPo
4. Character Voice Consistency - The Dancing Writer's Advice http://ow.ly/B1YeZ
5. Copyrights and Copywrongs | Indies Unlimited http://ow.ly/B1Ypg
6. 6 Questions to Ask Before Publicizing Your Book | Publishing Perspectives http://ow.ly/B1YtH
7. Your Novel’s Language: How Can You Beat the Blah? | Elizabeth Spann Craig http://ow.ly/B1YyN
8. New Types of Author Events | Foreword Literary http://ow.ly/B1YEi
9. h.e. Fairbanks - Got writer’s block? Try this little trick. http://ow.ly/B1YKR
10. A Day in the Life of an Acquiring Editor - Hey, There's A Dead Guy in the Living Room http://ow.ly/B1YXI
11. 8 Issues In Author Ethics | Thought Catalog http://ow.ly/B1ZmM
12. Reader Question: Is it possible to have a Protagonist who doesn’t have a backstory? | Go Into The Story http://ow.ly/B2C0L
13. How to Maximize Your LinkedIn Publishing Exposure | Social Media Examiner http://ow.ly/B2C7E
14. The Road to Success Through Paid Social Media - #infographic #Marketing | Digital Information World http://ow.ly/B2CzW
15. Starting From Zero | David Gaughran http://ow.ly/B2D20
16. If You Don’t Enjoy Marketing, You’re Doing It Wrong | David Gaughran http://ow.ly/B2Dmz
17. Building a Killer Email List | David Gaughran http://ow.ly/B2DyR
18. Know Your Readers: Q&A With a BookBub Romance Subscriber - BookBub Unbound http://ow.ly/B2S9F
19. Fiction University: And...End Scene: When to Add a Scene Break http://ow.ly/B2Spi
20. 4 Things You Must Know About A Literary Agent http://ow.ly/B2SD7
21. BookMarketingBuzzBlog: Authors Still United Against Amazon http://ow.ly/B2SJS
22. Writability: Discussion: How Do You Know When Your MS is Query-Ready? http://ow.ly/B2SQI
23. Book Apps with Authorly by Jason Matthews — The Book Designer http://ow.ly/B2UhW
24. Scribd's eBook subscription service, one year later - BookBaby Blog http://ow.ly/B2UPm
25. Excitement vs Tension in Stories | Stavros Halvatzis http://ow.ly/B2V06
26. Putting Author Thoughts into Author Action - Where Writers Win http://ow.ly/B3gqq
27. Kindle Kids' Book Creator http://ow.ly/B3Q1n

Happy writing and running, Kathy